The Nashville Predators once thought to be sellers at the NHL trade deadline played well enough to overtake the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks to earn the last playoff spot in the Central Division.
Paul Skrbina of the Nashville Tennessean reports the Predators could leave Matt Duchene and/or Ryan Johansen unprotected in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. Each player carries a $8 million cap hit and the Preds would love to free up some cap space.
Skrbina went on that say, “After so many years as an understudy, Juuse Saros emerged as a legit No. 1 goalie. The Predators don’t make a run to the postseason without him. Period. Expect to see plenty of Juuse at Bridgestone in the coming years after he signs on for a well-earned raise from his $1.5 million salary.”
NHL trade rumors earlier in the year had the Predators shopping Mattias Ekholm with a handful of teams interested that included the Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens. Do the Preds look to sign Ekholm to a contract extension or trade him this off-season?
